Rating of seas by salinity
There are about 80 seas on our planet. Of course, the Dead Sea would take first place in the ranking, since its waters are famous for their salinity. The Dead Sea is one of the saltiest bodies of water on Earth, salinity is 300-310 ‰, in some years up to 350 ‰. But scientists call this body of water a lake.
- Red Sea with a salinity of 42‰.
The Red Sea is located between the shores of Africa and Asia. The Red Sea, in addition to its salinity and warmth, boasts its transparency. Many tourists love to relax on its shores.
2. The Mediterranean Sea has a salinity of 39.5‰.
The Mediterranean Sea washes the shores of Europe and Africa. In addition to salinity, it can also boast of its warm waters– in summer they warm up to 25 degrees above zero.
3. Aegean Sea with a salinity of 38.5‰.
The waters of this sea with a high concentration of sodium can cause skin irritation. Therefore, after swimming it is better to take a fresh shower. In summer, the water warms up to 24 degrees Celsius. Its waters wash the shores of the Balkan Peninsula, Asia Minor and the island of Crete.
4 . Ionian Sea with a salinity of 38 ‰.
This is the densest and saltiest Greek sea. Its waters allow slow swimmers to hone this skill, as the high density will help keep the body afloat. Square Ionian Sea- 169 thousand square kilometers. It washes the shores of Southern Italy, Albania and Greece.
5 . The Sea of Japan, whose salinity is 35‰
The sea is located between the continent of Eurasia and the Japanese islands. Its waters also wash the island of Sakhalin. Water temperature depends on geographical location: in the north – 0 -+12 degrees, in the south – 17-26 degrees. The area of the Sea of Japan is more than 1 million square kilometers.
6. Barents Sea with salinity 34.7-35 ‰
This is the marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It washes the shores of Russia and Norway.
7. Laptev Sea with a salinity of 34‰.
Area - 662 thousand square kilometers. It is located between the New Siberian Islands and Severnaya Zemlya. The average annual water temperature is 0 degrees Celsius.
8. Chukchi Sea with a salinity of 33‰.
In winter, the salinity of this sea rises to 33‰, while in summer the salinity decreases slightly. The Chukchi Sea has an area of 589.6 thousand km². average temperature in summer - 12 degrees Celsius, and in winter - almost 2 degrees Celsius.
9. White Sea also has high salinity. In the surface layers the figure stopped at 26 percent, but at depth it increases to 31 percent.
10. Laptev Sea. Salinity at the surface is recorded at 28 percent
The sea has a harsh climate with temperatures below 0°C for more than nine months of the year, sparse flora and fauna, and low population along the coast. Most of the time, with the exception of August and September, it is under ice. Salinity sea water at the surface in the northwestern part of the sea in winter it is 34 ‰ (ppm), in the southern part - up to 20-25 ‰, decreasing in summer to 30-32 ‰ and 5-10 ‰, respectively. The salinity of surface waters is strongly influenced by the melting of ice and the runoff of Siberian rivers.
The main difference between a sea and a lake or any other large body of water is that it belongs to the world ocean, that is, through rivers and straits it (in this case the body of water is called internal) is connected to other water areas, which together make up a single space equal to two-thirds of the surface of the globe. The saltiest sea in the world is called the Red Sea. It belongs to the Indian Ocean and is the same internal strait connected to the World Ocean and surrounded on all sides by land. While the Dead Sea has no flowing rivers, it is not connected in any way with other bodies of water, that is, it is not one at all.
Very cool pickle
Since the most concentrated body of water (Dead Sea) on the planet with a salt content of 340 grams per 1 liter of water, with the total value of the world's oceans being 34 g, is not considered the saltiest sea on Earth, it is simply an object unique in salinity. This one-of-a-kind body of water was formed at the site of a graben, or tectonic fault, that filled with water millions of years after the tectonic plates moved apart. Much has been written about the fact that the territory of the “Arava Sea” is located at a depth of 350-400 meters below the level of the World Ocean, that is, all of it, including the most low point- 423 meters, is a depression, the deepest valley on our planet. Flows into the Dead Sea the only river Jordan and nothing comes out. Being a lake, the Dead Sea gives way to the Red Sea, which belongs to the Indian Ocean and is connected to it through the Bab el-Mandeb (“Gate of Tears”) Strait, which flows into the Gulf of Aden.
What causes salinity in the first place
As already noted, the saltiest sea in the world is the Red Sea, which seems to separate Africa from the Arabian Peninsula. In the north, thanks to the Suez Canal, it mixes its waters with the Mediterranean Sea, connected to the Atlantic Ocean. Except Dead Sea. Both the Caspian and Baikal are lakes. But the former, due to its enormous size, is usually called the sea, and Baikal is no longer called that, except in songs (“The Glorious Sea is the sacred Baikal”). The saltiest sea in the world is so for two reasons: heat on the surface, causing strong evaporation, and the absence of rivers replenishing and diluting marine reserves with fresh water. Through the only source - the Gulf of Aden, or rather through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, water flows annually in half as much as it evaporates. There is almost no rain in this area - 100 ml per year.
The youngest and most beautiful
To the most important feature characterizing the Red Sea, we can add the fact that it is also the youngest on the planet - it is only 25 million years old. It was formed simultaneously with the East African Rift. In essence and form, the sea bed is a trough - a valley formed by the activity of glaciers. This is a trough with a U-shape in cross section, a wide bottom and rather steep sides, which, turning into the banks, stretch from north to south almost parallel to each other. Also, the saltiest sea in the world is one of the most beautiful. This is also the warmest sea on the planet. In a word, a record-breaking sea.
Causes of increased salinity
The water in it is well mixed, but in the sea there are areas of high salinity, where its concentration reaches 60 grams per liter. This is the Gulf of Aqaba, or, as it is also called, the Gulf of Eilat, separating the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt. He himself is separated from the body of the sea by the shallow Strait of Tiran. This narrow bay in dry years much more often turned into salt Lake than the Red Sea itself. And this happened repeatedly over the course of 25 million years, last time- 2.7 million years ago.
As a result of natural disasters, the sea level dropped to the bottom of the bottleneck - the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. This state of affairs existed for quite some time for a long time, and the water in the reservoir became, according to the assumptions of some scientists, almost salty than today waters of the Dead seas. Then the World Ocean brought the sea closer to itself, and the salt concentration decreased. In the 60s of the last century, scientists discovered depressions with hot brine at the bottom of the Red Sea (salt content reaches 60 g per liter and increases by 0.3-0.7 g annually). A very interesting fact is that, according to the testimony of researchers who sank to the bottom in special devices, the brine does not mix with sea water, but lies as a separate mass. It contains a lot of different precious metals. The Red Sea is truly unique; in many respects it is the “most” on the planet.
Many variations of the name
The origin of the name is also interesting. There are several versions, each of which has the right to exist. For example, it is named after the color of the numerous red algae that give the water this hue. Ancient sailors saw it red because of the rocks of that color reflected in it. Or is it all due to the incorrect reading of the ancient Simite word, as if denoting the name of the people who lived here in time immemorial. IN Ancient Egypt the desert located next to the sea was called Ta-Desher (desher - “red”).
One version claims that some peoples associated the cardinal directions with colors: the east meant white, the north meant black, and the south meant red. According to this version, the Black Sea means “northern”, “dark”, because in relation to the location ancient civilizations it is indeed found in cold countries. The salinity of the Black Sea is low - 18%.
Salinity indicators of some seas
The most fresh sea on Earth, with a salt content in the depths of up to 1 gram per liter, and on the surface - up to 5, is the Baltic. The saltiest sea in the world belongs to the basin Indian Ocean, the warmest of all. It is natural to assume that the waters of water areas located closer to the equator are more saturated with salt. For example, salinity Aegean Sea- 37-39% and higher, Mediterranean - 36-39.5%, Ionian - 38%, etc. Located on the other side of the world, the Sargasso Sea is also quite salty - 37%.
It is inappropriate to remember the disappearing Aral Sea, which at one time was the 4th most salinous body of water on the planet, since it is also a lake. The saltiest seas in the world are located in the same area of the globe, at a distance of 300 km from each other. Dead (if in this particular case we forget that this is a lake), or, as it is also called, Asphalt, or Sodom, is located between Israel, Jordan and Palestine.
Natural unique
We can talk endlessly about the Dead Sea because it is unique. As already noted, the lowest point on the planet - 423 meters below sea level - is located right here. The sea was formed about 5,000 years ago by breaking the earth's crust, as a result of which the shores of the salt lake still diverge. There is no life in it. This is an object of tourist pilgrimage. Dead Sea cosmetics are known all over the world. What else can I say? It was here that all the inhabitants of Sodom were turned into salt.
It is so concentrated that very little will sink in it. You can see a lot of photographs of people lying on the surface and reading a newspaper. Millions of tourists claim that the saltiest sea in the world is the Dead Sea. It’s hard to argue with this, it’s really very large, and many travelers don’t delve into whether it’s drainage or drainless, whether it’s connected to the World Ocean or not. Fabulous, amazing and big. Its area is 1059 square meters. km. For comparison: the saltiest lake in Russia, Baskunchak (37 grams of salt per liter of water) occupies 106 square meters. km.
Salty seas of Russia
The northern seas of Russia, located very far from the equator, are also quite concentrated. According to some sources, the percentage of salt in the Barents and Kara Seas is at the level of 34%, sometimes higher. But in most cases, the saltiest sea in the country is called the Sea of Japan, although it has the same indicator. So not in Russia, in general the greatest number Seas with a high content of this element are the saltiest sea in the world. Kara is simply one of the saltiest reservoirs in Russia.
1st place.
Dead Sea. In fact, this body of water can be called a lake, because it does not communicate with other seas or the ocean. Nevertheless, everyone is accustomed to calling it the sea. Well, so be it. The Dead Sea has an incredible salinity of 33.7%. That is, every 100 g of water contains 33.7 g of salt.
Thanks to this incredible ratio, it is impossible to drown in this sea, because the body always strives to rise to the surface. The Jordan River and several small streams flow into it, but this influx of water is clearly not enough to maintain the level of the reservoir. By the way, its level drops by 100 cm every year, which in the future is fraught with environmental disaster.
2nd place. 
Red sea. The percentage of salt in water is approximately 8 times less than that of the leader - 4.3%. It is noteworthy that no rivers flow into this reservoir, therefore, silt and sand do not enter the sea from the outside, which means its water is clean and transparent. Why is the salinity increased? Because this area receives little rainfall and pure water comes only from the Gulf of Aden.
Plus, incredible evaporation. The Red Sea loses up to 1 cm of its level every day, and the amount of salt does not change significantly; on the contrary, its concentration increases slightly. Poor water exchange - here the real reason increased salinity.
3rd place.
Mediterranean Sea. 
It washes the shores of Africa, Asia and Europe. That's why they called him that. It has a salinity of 3.9%. Several flow into the sea large rivers. Water circulation occurs under the influence of the wind and due to the transfer of water by the Canary Current. The salinity of the reservoir regularly increases due to strong evaporation, and the density of the water varies significantly depending on the time of year.
4th place. 
Caribbean Sea. In addition to the fact that this is the most “pirate” sea, it also occupies fourth place in the “salinity hit parade”. This figure is 3.5%. And in terms of its hydrological composition, this reservoir is quite homogeneous. That is, there are no sharp fluctuations in temperature and in the degree of salinity of its individual sections.
Several large rivers flow into the Caribbean Sea. Tropical climate makes the pool of this sea attractive to tourists. Just keep in mind that hurricanes very often rage in the northern part of the reservoir, causing a lot of inconvenience to residents of coastal settlements.
5th place. 
Barencevo sea. Located on the edge of the Arctic Ocean. It has a salinity of 3.5%. In ancient times it had many names, because each nation called this body of water in its own way. Only in 1853 did the sea receive its final name - Barents, in honor of the Dutch sailor V. Barents.
Naturally, in the middle of the sea its salinity is higher than at the outskirts. This is explained by the fact that it is washed by slightly salty seas: the Norwegian, White and Kara. And in the north, the icy ocean significantly dilutes the concentration of sea water, because it itself does not shine with particular salinity, which is explained by the regular melting of ice.
6th place.
North Sea. Its salinity has different meanings On average, this value is 35%. The fact is that the North Sea in the east borders the slightly salty Baltic, and the rivers Thames, Elbe, Rhine and others also have an influence on this indicator. It washes the shores of many European countries, where the largest ports are located - London, Hamburg, Amsterdam, etc.
7th place. 
Japanese Sea. The salinity indicator is 3.4%. In the northern and western parts of the reservoir it is much colder than in the southeast. The Sea of Japan is not a tourist destination. It is rather of industrial importance for some countries. He loves to scare sailors with typhoons, especially in the fall.
8th place. 
Sea of Okhotsk. It has a salinity of 3.2%. In winter it freezes in the northern part, despite the increased salinity of the water, which, by the way, is much lower in coastal areas.
9th place. 
Black Sea. The salinity of this body of water varies greatly. For example, in the lower layer this figure is 2.3%, and in top layer, where there is increased water circulation, the salinity is 1.8%. It is noteworthy that at a depth of 150 m there is no longer any life. This is explained by the increased content of hydrogen sulfide in the water.
10th place. 
Sea of Azov. The average salinity of the sea is 1.1%. In the 20th century, many rivers feeding this reservoir with water were blocked by dams, therefore, the flow of water and its circulation decreased significantly. It is noteworthy that this is the shallowest sea in the world; its maximum depth does not reach 14 m. It has a tendency to freeze in its northern part.
In our country, the sea is considered the saltiest Barencevo sea. The surface layers of this sea show a salinity of 34.7% to 35%.
White Sea also has a high percentage of salinity: 31% at depth and 26% at the surface.
Kara Sea characterized by high salinity up to 34%. However, in the Kara Sea it is extremely scattered, and in some areas - at the mouths of rivers, for example, the water can be almost fresh.
Chukchi Sea And Laptev sea have a salinity index of 33 and 28 percent, respectively.
Mediterranean Sea is one of the saltiest in the world. The salinity of this sea is 36-40%. High salinity Mediterranean Sea limits the development of zoo and phytoplankton. However, high salinity does not interfere with fauna, of which there is plenty in this sea.
Legends and scientific facts about the salinity of the seas
Therefore, the saltiest sea on Earth is considered Red sea, which has a salinity index of 41%. Not only does the Red Sea have extremely high salinity, but the salinity level is also very evenly distributed.
Everyone knows firsthand that the water in the sea is salty. But most people will most likely find it difficult to answer the question of which sea is the saltiest on the planet. However, hardly a person thought about why the sea is salty and whether there is life in the saltiest sea in the world.
1. Dead Sea
Salinity 270‰ The Dead Sea is the saltiest in the world, which is located on the border of Israel and Jordan. Content minerals is about 270 ‰, and the concentration of salts per 1 liter reaches 200 grams. The composition of the salts of the sea differs significantly from all others. It consists of 50% magnesium chloride, and is also rich in potassium, bromine, calcium and many other mineral elements. Potassium salts are artificially crystallized from its water. The water here has the highest density, which is 1.3-1.4 g/m³, which completely eliminates the possibility of drowning.
In addition to unique salts, the sea contains healing mud, which contains 45% salts. Its features are high value The pH is 9 and the water tastes bitter and oily. Sea temperatures can reach 40 degrees above zero, which creates intense evaporation and contributes to high density. If in other waters with high salinity inhabited by diverse inhabitants, it is impossible to meet them in the waters of the Dead Sea.